Sexually assaulted by SWAT guard
[Trinidad Express] – The 67-year-old nurse at the St James District Hospital, who was attacked and sexually assaulted Wednesday by a SWAT security guard, is concerned for the safety of her colleagues,
The Express spoke yesterday with president of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) Gwendolyn Loobie-Snaggs who visited the victim at the Port of Spain General Hospital. Loobie-Snaggs said she appeared to be coping well and was more concerned with ensuring the officer responsible is charged and prevented from harming anyone else.
“She is not really depressed. Even though she is thinking about it, she is more concerned about other people and preventing it from happening to other persons. That is the calibre of person she is.”
The Express visited the hospital yesterday afternoon but was unable to speak with relatives.
Loobie-Snaggs said the company must take responsibility for the incident and others that have occurred in the past.
“One would expect that they would honour their contractual arrangements and not have a member of their company violate a person on the compound,” Loobie-Snaggs told the Express.
ROODAL REJECTS ROWLEY – refuses to give way to PM’s request
[Trinidad Express] – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was willing, but not Chief Whip Dr Roodal Moonilal.
The Prime Minister’s appearance at yesterday’s Standing Finance Committee meeting led to a Government request to have the agenda amended, to accommodate the immediate examination of expenditure under the item “Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)”.
This expenditure head was originally scheduled to have been examined on the first day of Finance Committee, which was Wednesday, but due to the Prime Minister’s absence (after he had a dental procedure done), it had been deferred to the next day, Thursday, subject to his attendance, since the Opposition wanted him to address the questions posed by them under the item OPM. But the Prime Minister was absent on Thursday as well.
The Opposition, which dictates the order for the examination of Government departments by the Finance Committee, determined on Thursday night a list of departments to be examined yesterday. This list did not include the OPM. However, it included the Ministry of Finance.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Finance technocrats were in place at the Parliament Chamber, Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain.
In fact, the Finance Committee had just resumed from a five-minute suspension to allow these technocrats to be moved from their holding area in another part of Tower D to the Parliament Chamber, when Government leader, Camille Robinson-Regis, made the request that the Finance Committee examine instead the OPM, as the Prime Minister was present.
Sharp increase in underage sex, rape in Hanover
[Jamaica Express] – The Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) is reporting a sharp increase in underage sex and rape for the parish of Hanover.
Between January and September 30 this year, the parish recorded a total of 64 cases of persons having sex with underage girls, when compared to 38 over the corresponding period last year.
“The year is not yet ended…… so, what that means is that it is almost double. That is not a good sign. Really not a good sign,” expressed Superintendent Enid Ross-Stewart, head of CISOCA.
And, for the same period last year, the parish recorded seven cases of rape in comparison to 32 this year.
“And, under -16 sex, though it has increased, rape has taken over more than four times the amount of rape for last year. Not a good sign Hanover,” SP Ross-Stewart lamented.
She was addressing a community meeting put on by the Police High Command in conjunction with the Hanover Police Division at the Lucea United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Thursday.
Among those who attended and participated in the meeting were representatives from the Northern Caribbean University, Citizens Security and Justice Programme and Unite For Change.
St Lucian jailed for having sex with 3 children
[Jamaica Observer] – A St Lucia man was sentenced to 37 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of having unlawful sexual intercourse with three minors.
George Jn Baptiste was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor aged seven years; seven years imprisonment for gross indecency with a minor aged 10 and five years imprisonment each on two counts of unlawful sexual connection with minor seven and 11 years respectively.
The court was told that the incidents occurred on August 5, 2011 at Maynard Hill in the capital, Castries.
Reports are that one of the children had been left in the care of her grandmother and had gone to the home of the accused to play with the other two girls after lunch.
The defendant, who is a relative of one of the girls, arrived shortly afterwards and asked the children if they wanted ice-cream. He gave one of the girls money to purchase the ice cream and on her return took the children to nearby bushes where he also performed oral sex on two of the children.
Jn Baptiste pleaded guilty to the two counts of unlawful sexual connection and not guilty on the counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and gross indecency.
His sentences will run concurrently and deductions will be made for time spent awaiting trial.
